


The Kage Summit Disappearances

by ohayohimawari



Category: Naruto
Genre: Anbu Yamato | Tenzou, Comrades, F/M, Hatake Kakashi is a Troll, Hokage Guard Genma, Humor, Missing Kages, Mission Fic, Post-Fourth Shinobi War, Sly Terumi Mei, Suspicious Sukea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-29 04:40:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19822741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohayohimawari/pseuds/ohayohimawari
Summary: The era of peace that follows the Fourth Shinobi War doesn’t guarantee an end to the problems a ninja must face when it comes to guarding a Kage. Genma teams up with Yamato and when the two go looking for trouble, it finds them.





	The Kage Summit Disappearances

**Author's Note:**

> This short story was written for the Tumblr event: Genma Week 2019; prompt: Kage.
> 
> Thank you to [Mrssakurahatake](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mrssakurahatake/pseuds/Mrssakurahatake) for sharing her original idea with me! I’ve had a ball writing it out. Also, thanks to [Nyxako](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nyxako/pseuds/Nyxako) and [TipsyRaconteur](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TipsyRaconteur/pseuds/TipsyRaconteur) for betaing this fic. <3
> 
> I love receiving comments from my readers (and I read them multiple times)!
> 
> I do not own these characters; I’ve had a wonderful time exploring them.

Genma had screwed up, and he knew it.

He leapt from rooftop to rooftop above the streets of Konoha. His arms held out behind him, pulling at his shoulders as he leaned forward and ran faster than he had since the Fourth Shinobi War. He silently blamed himself for becoming too relaxed in the budding era of peace, dulling his shinobi senses, and chastised himself as he neared his destination.

_What kind of ninja loses a Kage? Especially the one I was assigned to guard?_

“Tch!” He uttered his frustration, then winced at how the syllable shifted the senbon in his mouth against a chipped and sensitive molar; worn down over the years by his habit.

Genma could see the Hokage residence and winced again. As embarrassing as it would be, he must report the disappearance of the Godaime Mizukage to Lord Sixth. He was sure his lapse in security had earned him a stern reprimand from Konoha’s top ninja.

To make things worse, Konoha’s top ninja was Genma’s old school chum. Kakashi Hatake had assigned him specifically to guard Mei Terumī, who, out of all the current reigning Kage, seemed to be a particular friend of his.

Genma pursed his lips, securing the thin metal weapon between them. He steeled himself before he would drop down and arrive to report his failed mission. He skidded to a stop, however, when he saw Yamato suddenly burst out of the Hokage’s residence and take to the rooftops as well.

“Yamato!” Genma called out to him as he caught his breath.

His comrade looked back over his shoulder, irritation apparent in his deep-set almond eyes, and backtracked to where Genma stood.

“I’m afraid I’m in a rush, Shiranui. Can this wait?”

“Actually, I’m looking for Lord Sixth. I, uh, need to report something to him. Is he available?”

“I couldn’t tell you,” Yamato muttered with a guilty, sideways glance. He sighed and brought his eyes back to meet Genma’s. “Lord Sixth isn’t where he’s supposed to be.”

“Where is he supposed to be?” Shiranui’s eyes narrowed as he asked the question.

“At home, where I’ve been standing guard for him since today’s Kage summit meeting let out.”

“He’s disappeared from his home under your watch?” Genma was astonished that the Hokage’s ANBU guard was in the same boat as himself.

“Yes, thank you for stating the obvious, Shiranui. Now, as I’m sure you can understand, I can’t stay to chat. I need to find him.”

“Wait, Yamato,” Genma lowered his voice. “Lady Mei isn’t where _she’s_ supposed to be either. She’s disappeared from her guestroom where _I’ve_ been standing guard since the meeting let out.” His senbon betrayed his mounting concern, furiously bobbing between his lips.

Yamato directed an adamant stare at his comrade. “We may have a serious problem on our hands.”

“Yeah,” Genma exhaled, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Yamato’s gaze went unfocused as he looked beyond Genma, appearing deep in thought. “As it is now, we have very little to report, and I’m not sure who we’d report this _to_. First, let’s check on the whereabouts of the remaining Kage. We’ll ensure their safety; then let’s see what we can discover about our two missing targets.”

“Right,” Genma nodded. “They should all be at dinner now. I knocked at Lady Mei’s door to let her know we’d have to leave, but when she didn’t answer, I went in, and she was gone.” He began to run again in the direction of the banquet hall which hosted that evening’s dinner for the dignitaries.

Yamato fell in step beside his comrade. “That’s exactly how it played out when I went to let Kakashi know he was about to be late to dinner, even for him. Did you see anything in her room? Evidence of a struggle? A ransom note?”

“No signs of a struggle, so I didn’t search her room. I thought I’d better report it to Lord Sixth right away.” Genma cast a sidelong glance at Yamato. “Did you find anything in the Hokage residence?”

“No, but I had no reason to suspect trouble. I figured he’d snuck off somewhere to read and was heading for the copse I typically find him hiding in.”

The pair of shinobi had come to the edge of a building and cleared the marketplace below them in one chakra-fueled leap. When they landed on the next rooftop, Yamato picked up where he left off with his strategy. “Once we’ve made visual confirmation of the other Kages and their guards, we’ll go back to search the quarters of the missing two; perhaps there’s a clue waiting for us there.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Genma’s senbon clicked against his teeth as he ran and spoke. “However, it could cause an international incident if two Konoha shinobi are searching the Mizukage’s quarters without any Mist nin present.”

“Good point,” Yamato paused his speech again as the two jumped between buildings. “We’ll search Kakashi’s place first.”

The two shinobi silently dropped down to the street below them. They kept to the shadows as they neared the banquet hall, and peered through the windows to see within.

Nothing here was amiss. Gaara had more conversation than he could handle, surrounded by Kankuro, Temari, Shikamaru, Naruto, and Hinata. Darui, the newly-appointed Raikage, seemed satisfied to act as a third wheel to Karui and Chōji. Kurotsuchi, the obvious choice as the next Tsuchikage, was holding her own in an arm-wrestling match against Sakura Haruno as Ōnoki and other onlookers cheered them on. The whole party seemed too happily occupied to notice the two missing Kages, nevermind Genma and Yamato as they spied on the group.

“I can’t imagine anyone would challenge this crowd to kidnap another Kage,” Genma whispered. “They must be waiting until the others are alone in their guest quarters later this evening.”

“Who is kidnapping Kages?” A voice came from behind them, and the two ninjas quickly turned to face whoever it was with their weapons drawn.

The eavesdropper held his hands up and opened near his head. Besides the camera that hung by a strap around his neck and purple markings on his face, he was otherwise unremarkable.

“I’ve seen you before,” Yamato spoke in a low, thoughtful voice and Genma thought he recognized the man as well. “You’re that photographer from the _Leaf Gazette_ —”

“I thought it was the _Shinobi Sentinel_ ,” Genma interrupted.

“Yep,” the photographer cheerfully replied to them, tilting his head to the side and offering a bland grin.

Both shinobi relaxed their stances and stowed their weapons away. “I suppose you’re here to cover the Kage summit meeting,” Genma surmised. “What’s your name again?”

“Sukea,” the photographer replied as he lowered his hands.

“Well Sukea, this is a private conversation between shinobi, not a scoop for the media,” Yamato said, sternly.

“Don’t worry, I’ve decided my shift is done for the day,” Sukea placated. “Though, Kage kidnappers concern me personally, as well professionally. Has someone issued a threat to the summit meetings?”

Though his voice was light as he spoke, Genma noticed that the humor had left Sukea’s grey eyes. “Not directly, and that’s all the information you’ll get from us, on or off the record.”

“I would expect nothing less from two of the Hokage’s most trusted Leaf ninjas.” Sukea flattered them, and he grinned again, with his eyes as well as his mouth. “Besides, someone is expecting me.” As he spoke, his gaze drifted to a popular watering hole across the street and lingered on a raven-haired woman in a revealing red dress who was seated at an outdoor table.

Yamato and Genma followed Sukea’s gaze, and after Genma had gotten an eyeful, he remembered his profession and situation. “I’ve never seen _her_ before; who is she?”

Sukea’s eyes darted in a sideways glance at Genma before he replied. “… Junko.”

“From the amount of lipstick on that glass, I’d say you’ve kept her waiting longer than any man ought to, Sukea.” Yamato teased him in his eagerness to dismiss him.

Sukea started and visibly cringed at this. “You’re right, so I’ll be going now,” he offered a weak wave and a sheepish grin as he took a step away from the pair of shinobi.

But before he’d taken a second step, Genma addressed him once more. “Sukea, if you do see anything suspicious through that lens of yours, be sure to tell us about it.” He narrowed his eyes at the photographer before he continued, “And if you _have_ seen anything suspicious, you’d better have told us.”

Sukea turned around to regard the two ninjas fully. “I haven’t seen anything that I would consider a threat to the Kage summit meetings. It really does appear to be the era of peace that we’ve all wanted for so long,” he smiled, genuinely.

He turned to leave them, but then stopped again. “I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about, but I _did_ see a shinobi hovering outside the Hokage residence earlier.” With that, Sukea turned to join the woman that waited for him on the opposite side of the street.

Genma and Yamato watched while the photographer waved as he rushed to her, and as she smiled at him in return, Yamato muttered, “There’s something about that guy; I can’t quite put my finger on it.”

“I know what you mean,” Genma agreed. “Do you think we should trust his information?”

“I can’t think of a reason why we shouldn’t,” Yamato considered aloud. “I didn’t detect another presence outside of the Hokage residence, but perhaps Sukea saw something I didn’t.” The ANBU scratched the side of his head, beneath the facial guard he wore.

“If that’s the case, then we definitely need to search the Hokage’s residence. However,” Genma looked his comrade square in the eye. “I think we ought to split up. We’ll cover more ground and more Kage that way. I’ll return to the guest tower and reassume my guard position, while you search Lord Sixth’s home. You know it better anyway, you’d be able to tell if something was out of place before I could.”

“I’ll send a clone with you, so we can relay information to each other if we need to. Also,” Yamato dug into his pouch and retrieved a small seed, “swallow this, and if anything happens to you, I’ll know it, and I’ll be able to track you.”

“If something does happen to me, get the others from the previous Hokage Guard. We can use the Flying Raijin Formation to get us all out then,” Genma removed the senbon from his mouth, and swallowed the seed Yamato had given him.

Some of the seriousness slipped from Yamato’s expression. “It seems I’m not the only Leaf nin that carries the legacy of one of our Hokages,” he smirked. “As much as I hate this situation, I’m glad I’m in it with you.” He wove the hand signs to produce a wood clone.

“Likewise,” Genma replied, returning the senbon to his mouth. “Be careful, don’t take any unnecessary risks,” he said and departed with Yamato’s clone following close behind him.

Except for the clamor caused by the visiting dignitaries when they returned to their guestrooms after dinner, all was quiet in the tower. Genma guessed that nearly a half hour had passed since then, and a deep silence had settled upon the hall. He supposed that all of the occupants within had fallen asleep, and chanced the opportunity to address his comrade’s clone who had hidden within the wood paneling on the walls.

“Any news from Yamato?” He whispered.

The clone’s face emerged from the wall, “Nothing, and he’s running out of things and places to search within the Hokage residence. Should I instruct him to come here and assist you with guarding—”

He cut himself off when a quiet thud came from inside the Godaime Mizukage’s quarters.

Genma tensed, his senses on high alert as his ears sought for any additional sound from within her guestroom. He didn’t relax but became confused when the distinct, melodious sound of Mei Terumī’s giggle was heard.

Genma’s eyes met the clone’s. He mouthed the words, ‘ _That’s her_ ,’ and remained silent, listening.

An indistinct mumble in a male’s baritone voice met his ears, followed by another chorus of the Mizukage’s light laughter. Eventually, it dissolved into another of Genma’s favorite feminine sounds. He crossed the hall, stood directly in front of the clone and spoke to him in barely a whisper. “If she’s being tortured by her kidnapper, it’s in the sweetest way possible.”

He curled his tongue around the senbon in his mouth as he considered this unexpected twist of events. Suddenly, the apparent explanation came to his shinobi brain. “This could be a diversion. Relate this to Yamato, but stay here and guard the hall. I’m going to station myself outside, where I can keep an eye on her window.”

The clone nodded and melted back into the wood paneling on the wall.

Swiftly and silently, Genma snuck out of the guest tower and positioned himself in the deep shadows of night beneath Lady Mei’s guestroom window. He reached into his hip pouch, pulled out a small jar that contained a liquid tranquilizer and dipped one end of his senbon within it. Then, he waited.

Just when his knees began to complain from being crouched for so long, he heard the window slide open again. Genma looked up in time to see Sukea lowering himself to the street below.

“You son of a—!” Genma spit out his senbon, propelling it with chakra so that the sedative-laden tip drove deep into the photographer’s backside.

Sukea landed on his feet and stared wide-eyed at his attacker. “Genma! This isn’t what it looks like.” Before he could explain further, however, he crumpled to the ground.

Genma pulled a fresh senbon from his pouch and inserted it between his lips as he kicked the photographer’s leg to confirm he was out cold. He removed Sukea’s camera and looped the attached strap around his neck. He heaved his captive’s body onto his shoulder and took to the rooftops toward the Hokage’s residence once more, leaving the clone to guard the guest tower.

Yamato met him at the door, his tracking seed having alerted him to his comrade’s approach. His eyes widened when he saw that Genma brought Sukea with him. “How is this guy involved?”

“No idea,” Genma grunted as he hauled his prisoner through the door. “He was sneaking out of Lady Mei’s window when I caught him. Help me bind him before he wakes up,” he said, as he yanked the laced senbon from the photographer’s behind, and threw him into the nearest chair.

Sukea’s head snapped back when his body met the chair. Genma and Yamato were surprised to learn that his hair was actually a wig that had shaken loose from the impact, and fell to the floor.

Genma’s shock grew when he recognized the familiar silver cowlicks that had been hidden beneath the wig. “Oh, shit,” he whispered.

Yamato approached Sukea and peeled back the purple decal beneath his right eye, revealing the scar they knew to be Kakashi’s.

“Oh, _shit_ ,” Genma repeated, louder, as the revelation unfolded in his mind.

A dangerous calm had settled on Yamato, as he held his hand out to Genma without looking away from the sleeping Rokudaime Hokage’s bared face. “Give me the camera.”

Genma handed the camera over without thinking. Yamato brought the camera up and snapped a photo. “Wait! What’re you doing?” Genma senses returned to him, and he was shocked by his comrade’s actions.

Yamato’s face held a wild expression and a smile to match as he cackled, “Guess who’s buying lunch for **me** next time, _senpai_ ,” he sneered at an unconscious Kakashi and laughed again.

Genma didn’t know what to make of his comrade’s triumph, and after a moment’s hesitation, he offered his assessment of the incident. “Yamato, what if they assigned us as their guards because they trust us to keep their secret?”

Genma felt the full weight of the compliment that his Hokage, his old school chum, trusted him with something so important. Although it had been more than frustrating for him, he could understand the high-ranking lovers’ need for secrecy, and forgive the trouble it caused him. It seemed Yamato could too because he lowered the camera.

After only a moment of speculation, however, Yamato groaned. Genma looked at him, puzzled, as Yamato smacked his palm against his forehead. “ _I_ was the shinobi that was hovering outside of the Hokage’s residence earlier!”

Genma’s lips tightened around his senbon as he reconsidered how far his understanding could stretch. “Give me the camera, you pose him.”

** The End **

**Author's Note:**

> Join [The Kakashi Lounge Discord Server](https://discord.gg/fxyw3eB)   
> To be a member, you must be:  
> -at least 16 years old  
> -able to play nice with others in a multishipping community


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